1.Samuel 20 | King James Version

1 And David fled from Naioth in Ramah, and came and said before Jonathan, What have I done? what is mine iniquity? and what is my sin before thy father, that he seeketh my life? 2 And he said unto him, God forbid; thou shalt not die: behold, my father will do nothing either great or small, but that he will shew it me: and why should my father hide this thing from me? it is not so . 3 And David sware moreover, and said, Thy father certainly knoweth that I have found grace in thine eyes; and he saith, Let not Jonathan know this, lest he be grieved: but truly as the LORD liveth, and as thy soul liveth, there is but a step between me and death. 4 Then said Jonathan unto David, Whatsoever thy soul desireth, I will even do it for thee. 5 And David said unto Jonathan, Behold, to morrow is the new moon, and I should not fail to sit with the king at meat: but let me go, that I may hide myself in the field unto the third day at even. 6 If thy father at all miss me, then say, David earnestly asked leave of me that he might run to Bethlehem his city: for there is a yearly sacrifice there for all the family. 7 If he say thus, It is well; thy servant shall have peace: but if he be very wroth, then be sure that evil is determined by him. 8 Therefore thou shalt deal kindly with thy servant; for thou hast brought thy servant into a covenant of the LORD with thee: notwithstanding, if there be in me iniquity, slay me thyself; for why shouldest thou bring me to thy father? 9 And Jonathan said, Far be it from thee: for if I knew certainly that evil were determined by my father to come upon thee, then would not I tell it thee? 10 Then said David to Jonathan, Who shall tell me? or what if thy father answer thee roughly? 11 And Jonathan said unto David, Come, and let us go out into the field. And they went out both of them into the field. 12 And Jonathan said unto David, O LORD God of Israel, when I have sounded my father about to morrow any time, or the third day , and, behold, if there be good toward David, and I then send not unto thee, and shew it thee; 13 The LORD do so and much more to Jonathan: but if it please my father to do thee evil, then I will shew it thee, and send thee away, that thou mayest go in peace: and the LORD be with thee, as he hath been with my father. 14 And thou shalt not only while yet I live shew me the kindness of the LORD, that I die not: 15 But also thou shalt not cut off thy kindness from my house for ever: no, not when the LORD hath cut off the enemies of David every one from the face of the earth. 16 So Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David, saying , Let the LORD even require it at the hand of David' enemies. 17 And Jonathan caused David to swear again, because he loved him: for he loved him as he loved his own soul. 18 Then Jonathan said to David, To morrow is the new moon: and thou shalt be missed, because thy seat will be empty. 19 And when thou hast stayed three days, then thou shalt go down quickly, and come to the place where thou didst hide thyself when the business was in hand , and shalt remain by the stone Ezel. 20 And I will shoot three arrows on the side thereof , as though I shot at a mark. 21 And, behold, I will send a lad, saying , Go, find out the arrows. If I expressly say unto the lad, Behold, the arrows are on this side of thee, take them; then come thou: for there is peace to thee, and no hurt; as the LORD liveth. 22 But if I say thus unto the young man, Behold, the arrows are beyond thee; go thy way: for the LORD hath sent thee away. 23 And as touching the matter which thou and I have spoken of, behold, the LORD be between thee and me for ever. 24 So David hid himself in the field: and when the new moon was come, the king sat him down to eat meat. 25 And the king sat upon his seat, as at other times, even upon a seat by the wall: and Jonathan arose, and Abner sat by Saul' side, and David' place was empty. 26 Nevertheless Saul spake not any thing that day: for he thought, Something hath befallen him, he is not clean; surely he is not clean. 27 And it came to pass on the morrow, which was the second day of the month, that David' place was empty: and Saul said unto Jonathan his son, Wherefore cometh not the son of Jesse to meat, neither yesterday, nor to day? 28 And Jonathan answered Saul, David earnestly asked leave of me to go to Bethlehem: 29 And he said, Let me go, I pray thee; for our family hath a sacrifice in the city; and my brother, he hath commanded me to be there : and now, if I have found favour in thine eyes, let me get away, I pray thee, and see my brethren. Therefore he cometh not unto the king' table. 30 Then Saul' anger was kindled against Jonathan, and he said unto him, Thou son of the perverse rebellious woman , do not I know that thou hast chosen the son of Jesse to thine own confusion, and unto the confusion of thy mother' nakedness? 31 For as long as the son of Jesse liveth upon the ground, thou shalt not be established, nor thy kingdom. Wherefore now send and fetch him unto me, for he shall surely die. 32 And Jonathan answered Saul his father, and said unto him, Wherefore shall he be slain? what hath he done? 33 And Saul cast a javelin at him to smite him: whereby Jonathan knew that it was determined of his father to slay David. 34 So Jonathan arose from the table in fierce anger, and did eat no meat the second day of the month: for he was grieved for David, because his father had done him shame. 35 And it came to pass in the morning, that Jonathan went out into the field at the time appointed with David, and a little lad with him. 36 And he said unto his lad, Run, find out now the arrows which I shoot. And as the lad ran, he shot an arrow beyond him. 37 And when the lad was come to the place of the arrow which Jonathan had shot, Jonathan cried after the lad, and said, Is not the arrow beyond thee? 38 And Jonathan cried after the lad, Make speed, haste, stay not. And Jonathan' lad gathered up the arrows, and came to his master. 39 But the lad knew not any thing: only Jonathan and David knew the matter. 40 And Jonathan gave his artillery unto his lad, and said unto him, Go, carry them to the city. 41 And as soon as the lad was gone, David arose out of a place toward the south, and fell on his face to the ground, and bowed himself three times: and they kissed one another, and wept one with another, until David exceeded. 42 And Jonathan said to David, Go in peace, forasmuch as we have sworn both of us in the name of the LORD, saying, The LORD be between me and thee, and between my seed and thy seed for ever. And he arose and departed: and Jonathan went into the city.

New International Reader’s Version

David and Jonathan

1 David was in Naioth at Ramah. He ran away from there to where Jonathan was. He asked him, ‘What have I done? What crime have I committed? I haven’t done anything to harm your father. So why is he trying to kill me?’ 2 ‘That will never happen!’ Jonathan replied. ‘You aren’t going to die! My father doesn’t do anything at all without letting me know. So why would he hide this from me? He isn’t going to kill you!’ 3 But David strongly disagreed. He said, ‘Your father knows very well that you are pleased with me. He has said to himself, “I don’t want Jonathan to know I’m planning to kill David. If he finds out, he’ll be very sad.” But I’m very close to being killed. And that’s just as sure as the LORD and you are alive.’ 4 Jonathan said to David, ‘I’ll do anything you want me to do for you.’ 5 So David said, ‘Tomorrow is the time for the New Moon feast. I’m supposed to eat with the king. But let me go and hide in the field. I’ll stay there until the evening of the day after tomorrow. 6 Your father might miss me. If he does, then tell him, “David begged me to let him hurry home to Bethlehem. A yearly sacrifice is being offered there for his whole family group.” 7 Your father might say, “That’s all right.” If he does, it will mean I’m safe. But he might become very angry. If he does, you can be sure he’s made up his mind to harm me. 8 Please be kind to me. You have made a covenant with me in front of the LORD. If I’m guilty, kill me yourself! Don’t hand me over to your father!’ 9 ‘I would never do that!’ Jonathan said. ‘Suppose I had even the smallest clue that my father had made up his mind to harm you. Then I would tell you.’ 10 David asked, ‘Who will tell me if your father answers you in a mean way?’ 11 ‘Come on’, Jonathan said. ‘Let’s go out to the field.’ So they went there together. 12 Then Jonathan spoke to David. He said, ‘I promise you that I’ll find out what my father is planning to do. I’ll find out by this time the day after tomorrow. The LORD, the God of Israel, is my witness. Suppose my father has kind feelings towards you. Then I’ll send you a message and let you know. 13 But suppose he wants to harm you. And I don’t let you know about it. Suppose I don’t help you get away in peace. Then may the LORD punish me greatly. May he be with you, just as he has been with my father. 14 But always be kind to me, just as the LORD is. Be kind to me as long as I live. Then I won’t be killed. 15 And never stop being kind to my family. Don’t stop even when the LORD has cut off every one of your enemies from the face of the earth.’ 16 So Jonathan made a covenant of friendship with David and his family. He said, ‘May the LORD hold David’s enemies responsible for what they’ve done.’ 17 Jonathan made David promise his friendship again because he loved him. In fact, Jonathan loved David just as he loved himself. 18 Then Jonathan said to David, ‘Tomorrow is the time for the New Moon feast. You will be missed, because your seat at the table will be empty. 19 Go to the place where you hid when all this trouble began. Go there the day after tomorrow, when evening is approaching. There’s a stone out there called Ezel. 20 Wait by it. I’ll shoot three arrows to one side of the stone. I’ll pretend I’m practising my shooting. 21 Then I’ll send a boy out there. I’ll tell him, “Go and find the arrows.” Suppose I say to him, “The arrows are on this side of you. Bring them here.” Then come. That will mean you are safe. You won’t be in any danger. And that’s just as sure as the LORD is alive. 22 But suppose I tell the boy, “The arrows are far beyond you.” Then go. That will mean the LORD is sending you away. 23 And remember what we talked about. Remember that the LORD is a witness between you and me for ever.’ 24 So David hid in the field. When the time for the New Moon feast came, the king sat down to eat. 25 He sat in his usual place by the wall. Jonathan sat opposite him. Abner sat next to Saul. But David’s place was empty. 26 Saul didn’t say anything that day. He said to himself, ‘Something must have happened to David to make him “unclean”. That must be why he isn’t here.’ 27 But the next day, David’s place was empty again. It was the second day of the month. Finally, Saul spoke to his son Jonathan. He said, ‘Why hasn’t the son of Jesse come to the meal? He hasn’t been here yesterday or today.’ 28 Jonathan replied, ‘David begged me to let him go to Bethlehem. 29 He said, “Let me go. Our family is offering a sacrifice in the town. My brother has ordered me to be there. Are you pleased with me? If you are, let me go and see my brothers.” That’s why he hasn’t come to eat at your table.’ 30 Saul became very angry with Jonathan. He said to him, ‘You are an evil son. You have refused to obey me. I know that you are on the side of Jesse’s son. You should be ashamed of that. And your mother should be ashamed of having a son like you. 31 You will never be king as long as Jesse’s son lives on this earth. And you will never have a kingdom either. So send someone to bring the son of Jesse to me. He must die!’ 32 ‘Why do you want to put him to death?’ Jonathan asked his father. ‘What has he done?’ 33 But Saul threw his spear at Jonathan to kill him. Then Jonathan knew that his father wanted to kill David. 34 So Jonathan got up from the table. He was very angry. On that second day of the feast, he refused to eat. He was very sad that his father was treating David so badly. 35 The next morning Jonathan went out to the field to meet David. He took a young boy with him. 36 He said to the boy, ‘Run and find the arrows I shoot.’ As the boy ran, Jonathan shot an arrow far beyond him. 37 The boy came to the place where Jonathan’s arrow had fallen. Then Jonathan shouted to him, ‘The arrow went far beyond you, didn’t it?’ 38 He continued, ‘Hurry up! Run fast! Don’t stop!’ The boy picked up the arrow and returned to his master. 39 The boy didn’t know what was going on. Only Jonathan and David knew. 40 Jonathan gave his weapons to the boy. He told him, ‘Go back to town. Take the weapons with you.’ 41 After the boy had gone, David got up from the south side of the stone. He bowed down in front of Jonathan with his face to the ground. He did it three times. Then they kissed each other and cried. But David cried more than Jonathan did. 42 Jonathan said to David, ‘Go in peace. In the name of the LORD we’ve promised to be friends. We have said, “The LORD is a witness between you and me. He’s a witness between your children and my children for ever.” ’ Then David left, and Jonathan went back to the town.

1.Samuel 20 | King James Version New International Reader’s Version

David and Jonathan